


Finding All the Good Fic

by yourlibrarian



Category: Fandom - Fandom
Genre: Fanfiction, Gen, Meta, Writing, fandoms - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 11:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6852478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What sorts of source materials tended to give rise to a lot of good fanfic? Maybe it's just random chance? But putting aside the fact that many of us are going to have different ideas of what "good" is, I thought I'd put it to a vote. What factors does a canon text have that contribute to a substantial body of good fanfic?  These were the results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding All the Good Fic

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted December 7, 2008

A friend had been reading the Dresden books and enjoyed the SciFi series. She wanted to know if I could point her to any good fanfic. She also raised another interesting question: what sorts of source materials tended to give rise to a lot of good fanfic? Of course, the big problem with that question is how does one define "good fanfic"? Really, the answer seems to be that, if you are finding a lot of fanfic that you want to read, and it proves satisfying once you read it, then that fandom has a lot of "good" fanfic.

My short answer to her question was that there was more good fanfic when there were more good (and relatively prolific) writers writing in that fandom for an extended period of time. So my assumption was that there might be factors about the text or fandom which tended to attract or develop those writers. But maybe it's just random chance.

So, putting aside the fact that many of us are going to have different ideas of what "good" is, I thought I'd put it to a vote. What factors does a canon text have that contribute to a substantial body of good fanfic? These were the results:

1\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The fandom is large  
8 (53.3%)  
The fandom is small  
2 (13.3%)  
The fandom is medium sized  
3 (20.0%)  
The size of the fandom has no effect on the quality of fanfic  
5 (33.3%)

2\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The canon is fantasy based  
5 (33.3%)  
The canon is reality based  
0 (0.0%)  
The canon has a mix of fantasy and reality  
7 (46.7%)  
The genre of the canon has no effect on the quality of fanfic  
4 (26.7%)  
The genre of the canon is important in some other way (please explain in comments)  
2 (13.3%)

3\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

There is a popular romantic pairing  
0 (0.0%)  
There is more than one popular romantic pairing  
5 (33.3%)  
There is no romantic pairing  
3 (20.0%)  
There is a lot of UST in the text  
10 (66.7%)  
There is a pairing people want to see but we are not getting  
9 (60.0%)  
Romantic pairings have no effect on the quality of fanfic  
2 (13.3%)

4\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

There are few characters to work with in canon  
1 (7.1%)  
There are many characters to work with in canon  
7 (50.0%)  
There are many underexplored characters in canon  
6 (42.9%)  
The variety of characters has no effect on the quality of fanfic  
5 (35.7%)

5\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

There is a variety of gen, het and slash in the fandom  
9 (69.2%)  
There is mostly one type of fanfic in the fandom  
0 (0.0%)  
The variety of fic type has no bearing on the overall quality of fanfic  
4 (30.8%)

6\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

Canon is open  
10 (71.4%)  
Canon is closed  
1 (7.1%)  
Canon being open or closed has no bearing on the overall quality of fanfic  
3 (21.4%)

7\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The canon is of high quality  
6 (40.0%)  
The canon is of mediocre quality  
9 (60.0%)  
The canon is of low quality  
2 (13.3%)  
Canon quality has no bearing on the overall quality of fanfic  
2 (13.3%)

8\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The fandom is new  
3 (20.0%)  
The fandom is in a middle stage  
10 (66.7%)  
The fandom is old  
2 (13.3%)  
The age of the fandom has no effect on the overall quality of fanfic  
3 (20.0%)

9\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The fandom is concentrated in one place  
3 (23.1%)  
The fandom is mostly disconnected across different sites  
3 (23.1%)  
The dispersal of the fandom has no effect on the overall quality of fanfic  
8 (61.5%)

10\. There tends to be more good fanfic when…

The canon is something fans are mostly in agreement with  
2 (14.3%)  
The canon is something fans have a lot of disagreement with  
5 (35.7%)  
Whether fans tend to agree with or challenge the text has no effect on the overall quality of fanfic  
7 (50.0%)

Because the number of responses was so small I don't think anything can be determined by them, but I did find it interesting when there were options that no one chose. For example, there seemed to be a belief that having at least some fantasy elements in canon improved fanfiction. Of even more interest, people felt that having gen, slash, and het present in a fandom increased the likelihood of good fic, and that having only one popular pairing was not a good thing. They also thought having more characters meant more good fic.

I think there is one common issue behind all of these answers, which is revealed by the question about open or closed canons. There seemed to be a belief that open canon was better. There seems to be an idea that having more choice makes for better fanfic. My guess is that it's because choice allows for more new strains of stories rather than the possible boredom of having the same sorts of stories being written over and over.

Respondents did have some other thoughts to share, such as:

* What bad sorts of fic look like, such as soap opera, fic kink, wish fulfillment, or meta-disguised-as-fic.   
* The more current and mainstream a fandom was, the easier it is to write for.  
* Too much seriality and there isn't enough "open space" for fanfic. Not enough and there tends to be a corresponding lack of character development which may inhibit writing.  
* Stories with a lot of large gaps in time, a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of pairings including a few very emotionally rich ones, and a lot of pairings that didn't happen but could so easily have done, and which lacked a big, all-encompassing, decisive ending would be attractive to fic writers.


End file.
